Brought to you by the Galaxy S7 4G+ and S7 edge 4G+. Rethink what a
phone can do.
You have a better chance at striking the lottery than
finding someone who drives a cab for the passion. Least of all the
graveyard shift when the world is asleep and you feel a sense of
loneliness creeping up on you.
So what drives 33-year-old Timothy Lim to take up the
mantle of the job that sees him being cooped up in a car for
hours?
He sums it up in one word - family. “Being a taxi
driver does give me the flexibility of spending time with my
family,” said Timothy. For the last two years since he left the
comforts of the office as a salesman to sitting behind the steering
wheel, the thought of seeing his daughter and wife once his shift
ends has kept him going.
Timothy’s typical day (or night, really) starts during
the evening peak period, spending a few brief moments with his wife
and daughter before he sets off. Making random journeys, however,
isn’t his strategy. Starting in the west side of Singapore where he
stays, he is always on the lookout for a booking to Changi Airport,
bringing him to the opposite end.
But unlike the legends of taxi drivers who talk
non-stop, Timothy is on the other end of the spectrum, lending a
listening ear to those who board his cab. “You get to meet a
lot of people and they share their life and work, so it’s kind of
interesting,” he said.
80% of taxi drivers in Singapore are at the age of 50
and above, putting Timothy in a relatively young group cabbies
here. That youthful disposition is relatable to most of his young
passengers, with some becoming regular customers. With them,
Timothy is just a call away, picking them up and even knowing where
they’re headed before they’ve even told him.
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Earning a living ain't
easy
Being diligent keeps the fares coming for Timothy. But
that doesn’t equate to a stable daily income, especially during the
holidays when there are less flagdowns and bookings.
Keeping a tight watch on his budget is important, and
it doesn’t help when his phone, which is essential to the job,
conks out. Timothy recounts the dilemma he faced when his phone’s
screen cracked, with repairs amounting to at least S$200. Not
exactly the kind of money he has lying around, nor exactly the most
legit reason to justify buying a new smartphone. “If the repair
cost for a phone is lower and affordable, I won’t hesitate to make
the replacement,” he laments.
The solution for this is quite straightforward with
Samsung Concierge. The one-time fee of S$38 also covers a 50%
discount for screen repairs. A great benefit, not just for Timothy,
but also others who face the dilemma of either repairing or
replacing their damaged phones.
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Being affable and good-natured is also the key to
maintaining his passenger network, with some even becoming fast
friends and offering great food tips. “Some of the customers have
great taste in food and they’ll bring you around,” he said.
Then, there’s the older and more experienced passengers
giving sagely advice to the young cabby. "They remind me to have
work-life balance and spend more time with his family," said
Timothy. The very reasons that spur him on during the long hours
when his shift continues into the wee hours of the morning.
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The night might be quiet, but it's anything but boring.
Like all taxi drivers, Timothy has his fair share of passenger
stories. Passengers who were the pioneer batch of National Service
enlistees reminisce the tough times they had. Some engage him in
politics talk, which usually has mentions of Singapore’s founding
father, the late Lee Kuan Yew.
He’s also seen the seedier side of Singapore,
remembering the occasional passenger drop-offs right outside a
hotel at Singapore’s infamous Geylang area. But top on the
list that scares him most is picking up drunk passengers who spill
their guts (literally and figuratively). The fear of runners who
ride and dash or cleaning up after a drunk passenger vomits in the
car is very real.
His experience with the latter is very common as he
recounts one intoxicated customer who just knelt in the car during
the whole ride. It wasn’t easy either as all he got was a street
name and no idea where he has to drop off the passenger.
“I had a hard time waking him up, and when I did, he
just walked out and almost forgot to take his phone,” said Timothy.
He counts himself lucky that the passenger didn’t throw up and
managed to pay, though it was just a couple of dollars short.
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Seeing Singapore in another (low)
light
The long nights make for monotonous driving. A
challenge for Timothy, or for that matter, any taxi driver, is to
stay awake. He takes heed to well-meaning advice from veteran taxi
drivers and older passengers, both reminding him to avoid being
cooped up in the car.
Even the few minutes out of the vehicle and stretching
his legs are a welcome respite from a long night of driving. For
Timothy, this gives him the opportunity to step out and take in the
late night sights of Singapore. “During the wee hours, there’s
less traffic and that’s when you see the landscape of Singapore,”
he said.
Committing them to memory is one thing, but he believes
a phone with a decent low light camera would do even better. One
that captures even the faintest speck of light with a bright
aperture and fast Auto Focus even in the darkest situations.
Timothy might have been late to the party, but at least
he got a glimpse into better low light photography when he took the
Samsung Galaxy S7 4G+ out for a test drive. And was duly impressed
with the capabilities of its Dual Pixel Sensor (Fast Auto Focus)
and bright f1.7 lenses.
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Keeping the night alive with
music
In his past (work) life, Timothy had a close affinity
with smartphones. That has not changed even with the job switch,
and he often has to resist the lure of changing a new smartphone
for practical reasons.
Yet, when he does make the upgrade, it’s for one that
has a microSD card slot, for one simple reason - his photos and
music.
“I don’t backup my phone to the PC as often, so when I
change my phone, I just take out my SD card and bring it to the
next one,” he said. This makes sense for anyone who’s ever had
their whole life stored on the memory card. For Timothy, this
is especially important to keep his car tunes intact. A mix of
Chinese, English and fast-paced music accompany him when he drives
down the quiet roads.
A slight look of surprise crossed Timothy’s face when
we handed him the Samsung Galaxy S7 4G+ and showed him how the Dual
SIM* card slot also doubles as a container for a microSD
card. We have a slight suspicion that he’s thinking of getting
a 200GB microSD card to go with the phone.
*Only one SIM supports 4G+ LTE Cat 9 (up
to 450Mbps) connectivity at any one time.
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After a night of ferrying passengers, the end of
Timothy’s night shift doesn’t signal the end of his day.
While we open our eyes and move along with our daily
lives, Timothy makes one final journey for the day. Picking up his
daughter, he spends a precious, intimate father-daughter moment as
he sends her to school. The final stretch ends with him dropping
his wife off, grabbing a quick breakfast before he recharges
himself for the next shift.
As another evening begins, he picks up the family,
sometimes for an early dinner before he sets off for
work. That’s the typical day for the father and husband, who
sits in his trusty Hyundai Sonata as he starts on his next
journey.
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